Flanagan, Illinois
March 19, 2006 |
Flanagan had a community sale this past Saturday. The entire main street of the town (pop. 1000) was turned into a giant auction ring. There were multiple auctioneers selling everything under the sun and then some.
I admit, greed brought me to Flanagan. Old stuff is getting hard to find in Chicago.
I went because I wanted to find some antiques I could resell. Instead, I got something much better.
I found America.
I think it started when I went inside the American Legion hall. There were groups of people standing around talking to each other. Most everyone had a styrofoam cup of coffee in their hands and Carhartt on their backs. The thing that struck me was how happy everyone was. It felt like I walked into my families living room at Thanksgiving. It was home.
There were long tables full of slices of pie. Homemade wonderful pie. Peach, cherry, raisin, raspberry, pecan. In the kitchen were the ladies of Flanagan making coffee and stirring crockpots full of sloppy joe fixings. I walked up to get some coffee.
The first lady who saw me walking up stopped what she was doing and with a beaming smile said "Good morning sir! What can I get for you today." She looked me in the eye. The smile said "I'm here for you". She wasn't just someone serving coffee.
She was Flanagan.
I paid my 50 cents for the coffee and the lady who took my money treated me like I was a long lost nephew. To be honest with you, it was all a strong experience. I think the longer you live in Chicago, the more you lose the small things that matter. There are things we've lost in the big city which may never return. Civility, kindness, unity of humanity. Moments like buying coffee at the Flanagan American Legion hall.
You'll never find that feeling at a Starbucks. Not even close.
This was just one very small part of a day full moments like this. A day I wouldn't trade for anything.
America is out there. you just have to know where to look for it.
